TENTH REASON
ALL MANNER OF WITNESS
This shall be to you a straight way, so that fools shall not go astray in it (Isaias xxxv. 8).
Who is there, however small and lost in the crowd of illiterates, that, with a desire of salvation and some little attention, cannot see, cannot keep to the path of the Church, so admirably smoothed out, eschewing brambles and rocks and pathless wastes! For, as Isaias prophesies, this path shall be plain even to the uneducated; most plain therefore, if you choose, to you. Let us put before our eyes the theatre of the universe: let us wander everywhere: all things supply us with an argument. Let us go to heaven: let us contemplate roses and lilies, Saints empurpled with martyrdom or white with innocence: Roman Pontiffs, I say, three and thirty in a continuous line put to death: Pastors all the world over, who have pledged their blood for the name of Christ: Flocks of faithful, who have followed in the footsteps of their Pastors: all the Saints of heaven, who as shining lights in purity and holiness have gone before the crowd of mankind. You will find that these were ours when they lived on earth, ours when they passed away from this world. To cull a few instances, ours was that Ignatius, who in church matters put no one not even the Emperor, on a level with the Bishop; who committed to writing, that they might not be lost, certain Apostolic traditions of which he himself had been witness. Ours was that anchoret Telesphorus, who ordered the more strict observance of the fast of Lent established by the Apostles. Ours was Irenaeus, who declared the Apostolic faith by the Roman succession and chair (lib. iii. cap. 3). Ours was Pope Victor, who by an edict brought to order the whole of Asia; and though this proceeding seemed to some minds, and even to that holy man Irenaeus, somewhat harsh, yet no one made light of it as coming from a foreign power. Ours was Polycarp, who went to Rome on the question of Easter, whose burnt relics Smyrna gathered, and honoured her Bishop with an anniversary feast and appointed ceremony. Ours were Cornelius and Cyprian, a golden pair of Martyrs, both great Bishops, but greater he, the Roman, who had rescinded the African error; while the latter was ennobled by the obedience which he paid to the elder, his very dear friend. Ours was Sixtus, to whom, as he offered solemn sacrifice at the altar, seven men of the clergy ministered. Ours was his Archdeacon Lawrence, whom the adversaries cast out of their calendar, to whom, twelve hundred years ago, the Consular man Prudentius thus prayed:
What is the power entrusted thee,
And how great function is given thee,
The joyful thanks of Roman citizens prove,
To whom thou grantest their petitions.
Among them, O glory of Christ,
Hear also a rustic poet,
Confessing the crimes of his heart
And publishing his doings.
Hear bountifully the supplication
Of Christ’s culprit Prudentius.
Ours are those highly-blest maids, Cecily, Agatha, Anastasia, Barbara, Agnes, Lucy, Dorothy, Catherine, who held fast against the violent assault of men and devils the virginity they had resolved upon. Ours was Helen, celebrated for the finding of the Lord’s Cross. Ours was Monica, who in death most piously begged prayers and sacrifices to be offered for her at the altar of Christ. Ours was Paula, who, leaving her City palace and her rich estates, hastened on a long journey a pilgrim to the cave at Bethlehem, to hide herself by the cradle of the Infant Christ. Ours were Paul, Hilarion, Antony, those dear ancient solitaries. Ours was Satyrus, own brother to Ambrose, who, when shipwrecked, jumped into the ocean, carrying about his neck in a napkin the Sacred Host, and full of faith swam to shore (Ambrose, Orat. fun. de Satyro).
Ours are the Bishops Martin and Nicholas, exercised in watchings, clad in the military garb of hair cloths, fed with fasts. Ours is Benedict, father of so many monks. I should not run through their thousands in ten years. But neither do I set down those whom I mentioned before among the Doctors of the Church. I am mindful of the brevity imposed upon me. Whoever wills, may seek these further details, not only from the copious histories of the ancients, but even much more from the grave authors who have bequeathed to memory almost one man one Saint. Let the reader report to me his judgment concerning those ancient blessed Christians, to what doctrine they adhered, the Catholic or the Lutheran. I call to witness the throne of God, and that Tribunal at which I shall stand to render reason for these Reasons, of everything I have said and done, that either there is no heaven at all, or heaven belongs to our people. The former position we abhor, we fix therefore upon the latter.
Now contrariwise, if you please, let us look into hell. There are burnt with everlasting fire, who? The Jews. On what Church have they turned their backs? On ours. Who again? The heathen. What Church have they most cruelly persecuted? Ours. Who again? The Turks. What temples have they destroyed? Ours. Who once more? Heretics. Against what Church are they in rebellion? Against ours. What Church but ours has opposed itself against all the gates of hell? When, after the driving away of the Hebrews, Christian inhabitants began to multiply at Jerusalem, what a concourse of men there was to the Holy Places, what veneration attached to the City, to the Sepulchre, to the Manger, to the Cross, to all the memorials in which the Church delights as a wife in what has been worn by her husband. Hence arose against us the hatred of the Jews, cruel and implacable. Even now they complain that our ancestors were the ruin of their ancestors. From Simon Magus and the Lutherans they have received no wound. Among the heathen, they were the most violent who, throughout the Roman Empire, for three hundred years, at intervals of time, contrived most painful punishments for Christians. What Christians? The fathers and children of our faith. Learn the language of the tyrant who roasted St. Lawrence on the gridiron:
That this is of your rites
The custom and practice, it has been handed down to memory:
This the discipline of the institution,
That priests pour libations from golden cups.
In silver goblets they say
That the sacred blood smokes;
And that in golden candlestick, at the nightly sacrifices,
There stand fixed waxen candles.
Then is it the chief care of the brethren,
As many-tongued report does testify,
To offer from the sale of estates,
Thousands of pence.
Ancestral property made over
To dishonest auctions,
The disinherited successor groans,
Needy child of holy parents.
These treasures are concealed in secret,
In corners of the churches;
And it is believed the height of piety
To strip your sweet children.
Bring out your treasures,
Which by evil arts of persuasion
You have heaped up and hold,
Which you shut up in darkling cave.
Public utility demands this,
The privy purse demands it, the treasury demands it,
That the soldiers may be paid for their services,
And the commander may benefit thereby.
This is your dogma, then:
Give every man his own.
Now Caesar recognises his own
Image, stamped on the coin.
What you know to be Caesar’s, to Caesar
Give; surely what I ask is just.
If I am not mistaken, your Deity
Coins no money,
Nor when he came did he bring
Golden Jacobuses[3] with him;
But he gave his precepts in words,
Empty in point of pocket.
Fulfil the promise of the words
Which you sell the round world over.
Give up your hard cash willingly,
Be rich in words.
(Prudentius, Hymn on St. Lawrence).
Whom does this speaker resemble. Against whom does he rage? What Church is it whose sacred vessels, lamps, and ornaments he is pillaging, whose ritual he overthrows? Whose golden patens and silver chalices, sumptuous votive offerings and rich treasure, does he envy? Why, the man is a Lutheran all over. With what other cloak did our Nimrods[4] cover their brigandage, when they embezzled the money of their Churches and wasted the patrimony of Christ? Take on the contrary Constantine the Great, that scourge of the persecutors of Christ, to what Church did he restore tranquillity? To that Church over which Pope Silvester presided, whom he summoned from his hiding-place on Mount Soracte that by his ministry he might receive our baptism. Under what auspices was he victorious? Under the sign of the cross. Of what mother was he the glorious son? Of Helen. To what Fathers did he attach himself? To the Fathers of Nice. What manner of men were they? Such men as Silvester, Mark, Julius, Athanasius, Nicholas. What seat did he ask for in the Synod? The last. Oh how much more kingly was he on that seat than the Kings who have ambitioned a title not due to them! It would be tedious to go into further details. But from these two [Emperors, Decius and Constantine], the one our deadly enemy, the other our warm friend, it may be left to the reader’s conjecture to fix on points of closest resemblance to the one and to the other in the history of our own times. For as it was our cause that went through its agony under Decius, so our cause it was that came out triumphant under Constantine.[5]
Let us look at the doings of the Turks. Mahomet and the apostate monk Sergius lie in the deep abyss, howling, laden with their own crimes and with those of their posterity. This portentous and savage monster, the power of the Saracens and the Turks, had it not been clipped and checked by our Military Orders, our Princes and Peoples,—so far as Luther was concerned (to whom Solyman the Turk is said to have written a letter of thanks on this account), and so far as the Lutheran Princes were concerned (by whom the progress of the Turks is reckoned matter of joy),—this frantic and man-destroying Fury, I say, by this time would be depopulating and devastating all Europe, overturning altars and signs of the cross as zealously as Calvin himself. Ours therefore they are, our proper foes, seeing that by the industry of our champions it was that their fangs were unfastened from the throats of Christians.
Let us look down on heretics, the filth and fans and fuel of hell[6] the first that meets our gaze is Simon Magus. What did he do? He endeavoured to snatch away free will from man: he prated of faith alone (Clen. lib. i. recog.; Iren. l. 1, c. 2). After him, Novatian. Who was he? An Anti-pope, rival to the Roman Pontiff Cornelius, an enemy of the Sacraments, of Penance and Chrism. Then Manes the Persian. He taught that baptism did not confer salvation. After him the Arian Aerius. He condemned prayers for the dead: he confounded priests with bishops, and was surnamed “the atheist” no less than Lucian. There follows Vigilantius, who would not have the Saints prayed to; and Jovinian, who put marriage on a level with virginity; finally, a whole mess of nastiness, Macedonius, Pelagius, Nestorius, Eutyches, the Monothelites, the Iconoclasts, to whom posterity will aggregate Luther and Calvin. What of them? All black crows,[7] born of the same egg, they revolted from the Prelates of our Church, and by, them were rejected and made void.
Let us leave the lower regions and return to earth. Wherever I cast my eyes and turn my thoughts, whether I regard the Patriarchates and the Apostolic Sees, or the Bishops of other lands, or meritorious Princes, Kings, and Emperors, or the origin of Christianity in any nation, or any evidence of antiquity, or light of reason, or beauty of virtue, all things serve and support our faith. I call to witness the Roman Succession, in which Church, to speak with Augustine (Ep. 162: Doctr. Christ. ii. 8), the Primacy of the Apostolic Chair has ever flourished. I call to witness those other Apostolic Sees, to which this name eminently belongs, because they were erected by the Apostles themselves, or by their immediate disciples. I call to witness the Pastors of the nations, separate in place, but united in our religion: Ignatius and Chrysostom at Antioch; Peter, Alexander, Athanasius, Theophilus, at Alexandria; Macarius and Cyril at Jerusalem; Proclus at Constantinople; Gregory and Basil in Cappadocia; Thaumaturgus in Pontus; at Smyrna Polycarp; Justin at Athens; Dionysius at Corinth; Gregory at Nyssa; Methodius at Tyre; Ephrem in Syria; Cyprian, Optatus, Augustine, in Africa; Epiphanius in Cyprus; Andrew in Crete; Ambrose, Paulinus, Gaudentius, Prosper, Faustus, Vigilius, in Italy; Irenaeus, Martin, Hilary, Eucherius, Gregory, Salvianus, in Gaul; Vincentus, Orosius, Ildephonsus, Leander, Isidore, in Spain; in Britain, Fugatius, Damian, Justus, Mellitus, Bede. Finally, not to appear to be making a vain display of names, whatever works, or fragments of works, are still extant of those who sowed the Gospel seed in distant lands, all exhibit to us one faith, that which we Catholics profess to-day. O Christ, what cause can I allege to Thee why Thou shouldst not banish me from Thine own, if to so many lights of the Church I should have preferred mannikins, dwellers in darkness, few, unlearned, split into sects, and of bad moral character!
I call to witness likewise Princes, Kings, Emperors, and their Commonwealths, whose own piety, and the people of their realms, and their established discipline in war and peace, were altogether founded on this our Catholic doctrine. What Theodosiuses here might I summon from the East, what Charleses from the West, what Edwards from England, what Louises from France, what Hermenegilds from Spain, Henries from Saxony, Wenceslauses from Bohemia, Leopolds from Austria, Stephens from Hungary, Josaphats from India, Dukes and Counts from all the world over, who by example, by arms, by laws, by loving care, by outlay of money, have nourished our Church! For so Isaias foretold: Kings shall be thy foster-fathers, and queens thy nurses (Isaias xlix. 23).
Listen, Elizabeth, most powerful Queen, for thee this great prophet utters this prophecy, and therein teaches thee thy part. I tell thee: one and the same heaven cannot hold Calvin and the Princes whom I have named. With these Princes then associate thyself, and so make thee worthy of thy ancestors, worthy of thy genius, worthy of thy excellence in letters, worthy of thy praises, worthy of thy fortune. To this effect alone do I labour about thy person, and will labour, whatever shall become of me, for whom these adversaries so often augur the gallows, as though I were an enemy of thy life. Hail, good Cross. There will come, Elizabeth, the day, that day which will show thee clearly which have loved thee, the Society of Jesus or the offspring of Luther.
I proceed. I call to witness all the coasts and regions of the world, to which the Gospel trumpet has sounded since the birth of Christ. Was this a little thing, to close the mouth of idols and carry the kingdom of God to the nations? Of Christ Luther speaks: we Catholics speak of Christ. Is Christ divided? (1 Cor. i. 13). By no means. Either we speak of a false Christ or he does. What then? I will say. Let Him be Christ, and belong to them, at whose coming in Dagon broke his neck. Our Christ was pleased to use the services of our men, when He banished from the hearts of so many peoples—Jupiters, Mercuries, Dianas, Phoebades, and that black night and sad Erebus of ages. There is no leisure to search afar off, let us examine only neighbouring and domestic history. The Irish imbibed from Patrick, the Scots from Palladius, the English from Augustine, men consecrated at Rome, sent from Rome, venerating Rome, either no faith at all or assuredly our faith, the Catholic faith. The case is clear. I hurry on.
Witness Universities, witness tables of laws, witness the domestic habits of men, witness the election and inauguration of Emperors, witness the coronation rites and anointing of Kings, witness the Orders of Knighthood and their very mantles, witness windows, witness coins, witness city gates and city houses, witness the labours and life of our ancestors, witness all things great and small, that no religion in the world but ours ever took deep root there.
These considerations being at hand to me, and so affecting me as I thought them over that it seemed the part of insolence, nay of insanity, to renounce all this Christian company and consort with the most abandoned of men, I confess, I felt animated and fired to the conflict, a conflict wherein I can never be worsted until it comes to the Saints being hurled from heaven and the proud Lucifer recovering heaven. Therefore let Chark, who reviles me so outrageously, be in better conceit with me, if I have preferred to trust this poor sinful soul of mine, which Christ has bought so dearly, rather to a safe way, a sure way, a royal road, than to Calvin’s rocks or woodland thickets, there to hang caught in uncertainty.
DECIMA RATIO
OMNE GENVS TESTIVM
“Haec erit vobis directa via, ita ut stulti non errent per eam.”[113] Quis enim, quamvis hebes in plebecula, dummodo salutis cupidus parumper attenderit, semitam Ecclesiae tam egregie complanatam, non videat, non teneat; vepres, et cautes, et avia detestatus? Erunt haec etiam rudibus explorata, sicut Isaias vaticinatus est; vobis igitur, si voletis, exploratissima.
COELITES.—Theatrum universitatis rerum ponamus ob oculos; quidquid est uspiam peragremus; omnia nobis argumenta suppeditant. Eamus in coelum: “Rosas[114] et lilia contemplemur,” purpuratos nempe martyrio, candidatos innocentia. Romanos, inquam, Pontifices[115] tres et triginta continenter occisos; Pastores terris omnibus, qui suum pro Christi nomine sanguinem oppignerarunt; greges fidelium, qui Pastorum vestigiis institere; Divos omnes coelites, qui turbae hominum puritate et sanctimonia praeluxere. Nostros hic vixisse, nostros hinc emigrasse reperias. Noster fuit, ut paucula delibemus, ille martyrii sitientissimus Ignatius[116] “qui in rebus Ecclesiae neminem, ne regen[117] quidem, aequavit Episcopo: qui traditiones[118] quasdam Apostolicas, quarum testis ipse fuerat, ne dilaberentur, scripto mandavit.” Noster anachoreta Telesphorus,[119] “qui ieiunium quadragesimale, sancitum ab Apostolis, observari severius iussit.” Noster Irenaeus,[120] “qui a successione Cathedraque Romana fidem Apostolicam declaravit.” Noster etiam Victor Pontifex, “qui[121] Asiam edicto coercuit universam:” quod quum aliquibus, atque etiam huic Irenaeo, viro sacratissimo, videretur asperius, nemo tamen attenuavit, ut exoticam potestatem. Noster Polycarpus,[122] qui super quaestione Paschatis Romam adiit, cuius ambustas reliquias Smyrna collegit, anniversario die rituque legitimo suum Episcopum venerata. Nostri Cornelius et Cyprianus,[123] aureum par Martyrum, ambo magni praesules; sed maior ille, qui Romanus Africanum errorem resciderat; hic nobilitatus observantia, qua maiorem est prosequutus, amicissimum sui. Noster Sixtus,[124] “cui ad aram solemnibus sacris operanti ministrarunt e clero septemviri.” Noster Laurentius, huius Archidiaconus,[125] quem adversarii de suis fastis eiiciunt, quem ante mille ducentos annos vir consularis Prudentius[126] sic ornavit:
Quae sit potestas credita
Et muneris quantum datum,
Probant Quiritum gaudia,
Quibus rogatus annuis.
Hos inter, o Christi decus,
Audi et poetam rusticum,
Cordis fatentem crimina,
Et facta prodentem sua.
Audi benignus supplicem
Christi reum, Prudentium.
Nostrae virgines illae[127] perbeatae, Caecilia, Agatha, Anastasia, Barbara, Agnes, Lucia, Dorothea, Catharina; quae decretam pudicitiam adversus et hominum et daemonum tyrannidem firmaverunt. Nostra Helena, quam dominicae Crucis inventio celebravit. Nostra Monica, quae moriens[129] orari et sacrificari pro se mortua ad altare Christi, religiosissime flagitavit. Nostra Paula,[129] quae ex urbano palatio et opimis praediis in speluncam Bethleemiticam tantis itineribus peregrina cucurrit, ut ad Christi vagientis cunabula delitesceret. Nostri Paulus, Hilarion, Antonius, seniculi solitarii. Noster Satyrus,[130] Ambrosii germanus frater, qui tremendam illam hostiam circum se gestans in orario, naufragus insiliit in Oceanum, et fide plenissimus enatavit. Nostri Nicolaus et Martinus, episcopi, exerciti vigiliis, paludati ciliciis, ieiunio pasti, Noster Benedictus, tot monachorum pater. Chiliadas istas decennio non exsequerer.
Sed nec illos repeto, quos in Ecclesiae Doctoribus ante posueram. Memor sum brevitatis meae, Petat ista, qui volet, non solum ex abundanti veterum historia, sed multo etiam magis ex gravissimis auctoribus, qui paene singuli Divos singulos memoriae[131] reliquerunt. Renuntiet mihi, de christianis illis antiquissimis et beatissimis quid autumet? Vtrius doctrinae fuerint, catholicae, an lutheranae? Testor Dei solium et illud tribunal, ad quod stabo rationem rationum harum et dicti et facti redditurus, aut nullum coelum esse, aut nostrorum esse; illud exsecramur, hoc ergo defigimus.
DAMNATI.-Nunc e contrario, si libet, inspiciamus in Tartara. Cremantur incendio sempiterno. Qui? Iudaei. Quam Ecclesiam adversati? Nostram.—Qui? Ethnici. Quam Ecclesiam crudelissime persequuti? Nostram.—Qui? Turcae. Quae templa demoliti? Nostra.—Qui? Haeretici. Cuius Ecclesiae perduelles? Nostrae.—Quae enim Ecclesia praeter nostram omnibus inferorum portis[132] se opposuit?
IVDAEI.—Quum, pulsis Hebraeis, Christiani[133] succrescerent Hierosolymis, Deum immortalem! qui concursus hominum ad loca sacra fuit,[134] quae urbis religio, quae sepulcri, quae praesepii, quae crucis, quae monumentorum omnium, quibus velut exuviis mariti, Ecclesia sponsa delectatur? Hinc manavit in nos Iudaeorum odium ferum et implacabile. Queruntur etiam nunc, maiores nostros maioribus suis exitio fuisse. A Simone Mago et lutheranis nullum ictum acceperunt.
ETHNICI.—In Ethnicis violentissimi fuere, qui toto Imperio, trecentis annis, per intervalla temporum, aerumnosissima Christianis supplicia machinati sunt. Quibus? Patribus et filiis nostrae fidei. Cognoscite vocem tyranni, qui Divum Laurentium torruit in craticula:[135]
Hunc esse vestris Orgiis
Moremque et artem, proditum est;
Hanc disciplinam foederis,
Libent ut auro antistites.
Argenteis scyphis ferunt
Fumare sacrum sanguinem,
Auroque nocturnis sacris
Adstare fixos cereos.
Tunc cura summa est fratribus,
(Vt sermo testatur loquax),
Offerre, fundis venditis,
Sestertiorum millia.
Addicta avorum praedia
Foedis sub auctionibus
Successor exhaeres gemit,
Sanctis egens parentibus.
Haec occulantur abditis
Ecclesiarum in angulis;
Et summa pietas creditur
Nudare dulces liberos.
Deprome thesauros, malis
Suadendo quos praestigiis
Exaggeratos obtines,
Nigrantes quos claudis specu.
Hoc poscit usus publicus;
Hoc fiscus, hoc aerarium,
Vt dedita stipendiis
Ducem iuvet petunia.
Sic dogma vestrum est, audio;
“Suum quibusque reddito.”
En Caesar agnoscit suum
Numisma, nummis inditum.
Quod Caesaris scis, Caesari
Da: nempe iustum postulo,
Ni fallor; haud ullam tuus
Signat Deus pecuniam.
Nec quum veniret, aureos
Secum Philippos detulit;
Praecepta
sed verbis dedit
Inanis a marsupio.
Implete dictorum fidem,
Quae vos per orbem venditis,
Nummos libenter reddite;
Estote verbis divites.
Quis videtur? In quos furit? Cuius Ecclesiae sacra, lychnos, ritus, ornamenta convellit? Cui patellas aureas, et argenteos calices, et sumptuosa donaria, et opulentam gazam invidet? Profecto lutherizat. Quod enim aliud velum suo latrocinio nostri Nemrodes[136] obtenderunt, quum depecularentur ecclesias, et Christi patrimonium dissiparent? Contra vero magnus ille Constantinus Christomastigon terror, quam Eeclesiam tranquillavit? Illam, cui Pontifex Sylvester praefuit,[137] quem in Soracte latitantem accersiit, ut eius opera nostro baptismate tingeretur.—Quibus auspiciis victor? Signo crucis.[138]—Qua matre gloriosus? Helena.—Quibus se patribus adiunxit? Nicaenis.—Cuiusmodi? Vt Sylvestro, ut Marco, ut Iulio, ut Athanasio, ut Nicolao.—Cuius se precibus[139] commendavit? Antonii.—Quam sellam postulavit[140] in Synodo? Vltimam.—O quanto regalior hac sede, quam qui regis titulum, non debitum, ambierunt! Singula narrare longum est. Sed ex his duobus altero nobis infestissimo, altero nobis amicissimo, licebit singula coniicere, quae sunt horum simillima. Etenim, ut nostrorum illa fuit Epistasis turbulenta, sic nostrorum haec evasit divina Catastrophe.
TVRCAE.-Turcica videamus. Mahometes et Sergius monachus apostata in profundo barathro iacent ululantes, et suis et posterorum sceleribus onusti. Haec portentosa et efferata bellua, Sarraceni, Turcae, nisi a nostris ordinibus militiae sacrae,[141] nisi a nostris principibus et populis accisa fuisset ac repressa, per Lutherum quidem, (cui gratias hoc nomine Solymanus Turcus litteris egisse dicitur), et per lutheranos regulos (quibus Turcorum progressio laetabilis existimatur); haec, inquam, Erinnys furiosa et exitiosa mortalibus, totam iam depopularetur et vastaret Europam; neque indiligentius altaria et signa crucis, quam ipse Calvinus everteret. Ergo nostri hostes illi sunt proprii, utpote nostrorum industria a christianorum iugulis repulsi.
HAERETICI.—Despectemus in haereticos, faeces, et folles, et alimenta gehennae. Primus occurrit Simon Magus. Quid ille? “Eripiebat homini liberam[142] voluntatem; solam fidem[143] percrepabat.” Mox Novatianus: Quis? Antipapa Cornelio,[144] Pontifici Romano, “hostis sacramentorum poenitentiae et chrismatis.”[145] Deinde Manes Persa: hic docebat “baptismum salutem[146] non conferre.” Post Aerius Arianus “preces damnabat pro mortuis,[147] confundebat episcopis sacerdotes.” Hinc Aerius “solam[148] et ipse fidem personabat,” cognominatus atheos[149] non minus quam Lucianus. Sequitur Vigilantius,[150] qui “Divos orari non ferebat:” ac Iovinianus, qui “virginitatem et nuptias aequiparabat.” Denique colluvies universa Macedonius, Pelagius, Nestorius, Entyches, Monothelitae, Iconomachi, caeteri, quibus Lutherum et Calvinum posteritas aggregabit. Quid isti? Omnes mali corvi, eodem ovo geniti, ab Ecclesiae nostrae Praesulibus desciverunt, ab illis evicti et exinaniti sunt.
Deseramus avernum, reddamur terris. Quocumque me oculis et cogitatione convertero, sive Patriarchas intueor et sedes Apostolicas, sive Antistites caeterarum gentium, sive laudatos principes, reges, caesares, sive christianorum cuiusque nationis initia, sive ullum iudicium vetustatis, aut lumen rationis, aut honestatis decus; nostrae fidei serviunt et suffragantur omnia.
SEDES APOSTOLICA.—Testis Romana successio, “In qua semper
Ecclesia, (ut cum Augustino ep. 162 loquar), Apostolicae
Cathedrae viguit principatus.” Testes illae reliquae sedes
apostolicae, in quas hoc nomen insignite convenit, quod ab ipsis
Apostolis horumve auditoribus exaedificatae[151] fuerint.
DISIVNCTTISSIMAE TERRAE.—Testes ubivis gentium pastores, loco dissiti, religione nostra concordes, Ignatius et Chrysostomus, Antiochiae; Petrus, Alexander, Athanasius, Theophilus, Alexandriae; Macharius et Cyrillus, Hierosolymis; Proclus, Constantinopoli; Gregorius et Basilius, in Cappadocia; Thaumaturgus, in Ponto; Smyrnae, Polycarpus; Iustinus, Athenis; Dionysius, Corinthi; Gregorius, Nissae; Methodius, Tyri; Ephremus, in Cyria; Cyprianus, Optatus, Augustinus, in Africa; Epiphanius, in Cypro; Andreas, Cretae; Ambrosius, Paulinus, Gaudentius, Prosper, Faustus, Vigilius in Italia; Irenaeus, Martinus, Hilarilius, Eucherius, Gregorius, Salvianus, in Gallia; Vincentius, Orosius, Ildefonsus, Leander, Isidorus, in Hispania; in Britannia, Fugatius, Damianus, Iustus, Mellitus, Beda. Denique, ne ambitiosus videar in nominibus, quaecumque vel opera, vel fragmenta supersunt eorum, qui disiunctissimis terris Evangelium severunt, omnia nobis unam fidem exhibent, quam hodie catholici profitemur. Christe, quid causae tibi afferam, quo minus me de tuis extermines, si tot luminibus Ecclesiae tenebricosos homulos, paucos, indoctos, dissectos, improbos, antetulero?
PRINCIPES.—Testes item principes, reges, caesares, horumque respublicae, quorum et ipsorum pietas, et ditionum populi, et pacis bellique disciplina, se penitus in hac nostra doctrina catholica fundaverunt. Hic ergo quos ab oriente Theodosios, quos ab occidente Carolos, quos Eduardos ex Anglia, Ludovicos e Gallia, Hermenegildos ex Hispania, Henricos a Saxonia, Wenceslaos e Bohemia, Leopoldos ex Austria, Stephanos ex Hungaria, Iosaphatos ex India, quos orbe toto dynastas atque toparchas possim arcessere; qui exemplo, qui armis qui legibus, qui sollicitudine, qui sumptu, nostram Ecclesiam nutrierunt? Sic enim praecinuit Isaias (xlix. 23): “Erunt reges nutricii tui, et reginae iutrices tuae.” Audi, Elisabetha, Regina potentissima, tibi canit, te tuas partes edocet. Narro tibi: Calvinum et hos principes unum coelum capere non potest. His ergo te principibus adiunge, dignam maioribus, dignam ingenio, dignam litteris, dignam laudibus, dignam fortuna tua. Solum hoc de te molior ego et moliar, quidquid me fiet, cui, tamquam hosti capitis tui, toties iam isti patibulum ominantur. Salve bona crux. Veniet, Elisabetha, dies ille, ille dies, qui tibi liquido commonstrabit, utri te dilexerint, Societas Iesu, an Lutheri progeies Pergo.
NATIONES AD CHRISTAM TRADVCTAE.—Testes iam omne sorae plagaeque mundi, quibus evangelica tuba post Christum natum insonuit. Parumne hoc fuit, idolis ora claudere, Dei regnum gentibus importare? Christum Lutherus, catholici Christum loquimur. “Num divisus est Christus?”[152] Minime. Aut nos, aut ille, falsum Christum loquimur. Quid ergo? Dicam. Christus ille sit, et illorum sit, quo Dagon[153] invecto cervices fregerit. Noster Christus opera nostrorum uti voluit, quum Ioves, Mercurios, Dianas, Phaebadas, et illam noctem saeculorum atram, Erebumque tristem, e tot populorum cordibus relegaret. Non est otium longinqua perquirere; finitima tantum atque domestica speculemur. Hiberni ex Patritio, Scoti ex Palladio, Angli ex Augustino, Romae sacratis, Roma missis, Romam venerantibus, fidem aut nullam aut certe nostram, id est, catholicam insuxerunt. Res aperta. Curro.
CVMVLVS TESTIVM.—Testes academiae, testes legum tabulae, testes vernaculi mores hominum, testes selectio caesarum et inauguratio, testes regum ritus et inunctio, testes equitum ordines, ipsaeque chlamydes, testes fenestrae, testes nummi, testes urbanae portae domusque civicae, testes avorum fructus et vita, testes res omnes et reculae, nullam in orbe religionem, nisi nostram, imis umquam radicibus insedisse.
Quae mihi quum suppeterent, et certe sic efficerent meditantem, ut his omnibus nuntium remittere christianis, et consociari cum perditissimis quibusque, videretur insolentis insaniae; non diffiteor, animatus sum et incensus ad conflictum, in quo nisi Divi de coelo deturbentur, et superbus Lucifer coelum recuperet, cadere numquam potero. Quo mihi sit aequior Charcus, qui me tam immaniter concerpit, si hanc animulam peccatricem, quam tanti Christus emit, viae tutae, viae certae, viae regiae malui credere, quam Calvinis scopulis dumetisve suspendere.